What OBD Scanner

[Overboost]

Most new models are coming out do not support the older INPA software from the 2000's. I am not sure if the Daten files are available for the later models.

Best advise here would be to invest the $150 on a Foxwell NT scanner. I bought the NT-510 new off fleaBay earlier this year for $120 delivered. I bought the BMW license already in the purchase and it covered all models up to 2018 or something. (And you don't have to learn to translate the German from INPA)

[c-bass]

From my understanding ISTA+ will read all model year vehicles but the cable to interface with the newer vehicles is different.

I know it does work for reading and coding a 2015 X5 because I was reading a thread about someone having issues flashing his DME on that model year.

Personally I'm a big fan of the laptop and proper software combo. The INPA/ISTA software definitely has a few tricks that none of the other devices will do (or do well) and I feel like the BMW software is the proper too for the job.

You can buy a cable off Amazon or ebay for less than $20 like this one https://www.amazon.com/FanzKo-Interf...092864&sr=8-11

The FTDI chipset and little switch would usually indicate the latest version of the hardware on the cable, but I also have a cable that's almost 10 years old that has worked fine for me.

You can download all the software for free from https://www.bimmergeeks.net/downloads

Disclaimer: the ISTA (aka Rheingold) is a HUGE download (I think 40 gig) and can be a pain in the ass to install as it needs things setup in a certain order.

All of this is covered in the .txt file when you download from bimmergeeks

As far as laptop hardware goes anything from the year 2000 and up should work. The software isn't very demanding at all so if you have an old laptop lying around or can score something from craigslist etc for cheap it should be more than enough.

Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 10 will all run the software fine. I have a laptop with each one of those operating systems loaded up with the BMW software and they all work fine.

If you need any help setting up the software I'll be more than happy to help. That goes for everyone.

If you don't want to screw around with the software I have a laptop you can have cheap. The shipping from Canada would probably suck, but your exchange rate would probably negate most of that.

That's my 2 cents

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by c-bass

...Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 10 will all run the software fine. I have a laptop with each one of those operating systems loaded up with the BMW software and they all work fine.

If you need any help setting up the software I'll be more than happy to help. That goes for everyone....

Thanks!

Since you sound so knowledgeable here, can you please confirm my decision on a recent problem... ?

2001 E53, owned for 6 years, no major issues

I use my Foxwell NT520 Pro with no problems.

I bought a PA Soft BMW Scanner 1.4 clone off eBay a couple of years ago. Installed back then on my Win10-64 everyday laptop and used it with no problems at all. BTW, it worked on the very first run through the instructions.

Recently, I needed to do some aux fan testing. I ended up getting it done with the Foxwell (confirming, I think, that the car side of things is working fine).

But the PA Soft would simply not work. The failure was "hardware is not ready" when trying to connect to the vehicle. The one green LED on the box stayed on solid; the other (yellow) never ever came on. No errors until that final error.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling software and drivers. No pins / connector damage (box/cable stored in a drawer in my toolbox). Following intertubes info, I took the box apart and resoldered a few things. Tried USB2 port vs. USB3. Used different USB-to-box cables. No change at all in everything I tried.

My conclusion is that the box has failed, and have written it off, planning to buy a new one if I ever need it and Foxwell won't get it done. But I do know that sometimes Windows update kills things, so am asking your advice on that.

[c-bass]

Originally Posted by oldskewel

My conclusion is that the box has failed, and have written it off, planning to buy a new one if I ever need it and Foxwell won't get it done. But I do know that sometimes Windows update kills things, so am asking your advice on that.

The reason I ended up installing xp, 7 and 10 was that at one point in time everything was working perfectly fine on my Windows10 ISTA+ install, and then one day it just didn't. Right after a windows update.

INPA did work though and since copying and reinstalling everything takes HOURS on these older machines I figured it would be faster to try and fix the issue. WRONG!

I played around with it for a few days and unfortunately I was not able to fix the problem, however I was able to load everything back up and have it working on xp, 7 and 10.

My current routine is to install the os and all the available updates first, and then the diagnostic software. Once setup and working UPDATES GET TURNED OFF.

I have also on several occasions experienced issues when for example windows decides it wants to update a "generic" driver for a USB to COM adapter but usually installing the driver specifically from the manufacturer has resolved that.

I'm assuming that the PA soft hardware much like the rest of these cables has some sort of USB -> COM assignment via driver, so you could try to go into your device manager and delete you USB controllers and COM ports and then reboot your system.

That might help reassign resources to the hardware which should be getting an IRQ etc automatically from the OS. Devices sometimes prefer some resources over others for whatever reason.

If you have any other computer you can plug the PA Soft hardware into that would help rule out your OS being "confused"

[wpoll]

+1 to what c-bass said - PLUS, I cannot get PA Soft and INPA working on the same computer, since the two hardware port drivers conflict with each other. I know others have gotten this to work but I have verified the conflict, so now I use different OS'es for each tool....

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by c-bass

The reason I ended up installing xp, 7 and 10 was that at one point in time everything was working perfectly fine on my Windows10 ISTA+ install, and then one day it just didn't. Right after a windows update.

INPA did work though and since copying and reinstalling everything takes HOURS on these older machines I figured it would be faster to try and fix the issue. WRONG!

I played around with it for a few days and unfortunately I was not able to fix the problem, however I was able to load everything back up and have it working on xp, 7 and 10.

My current routine is to install the os and all the available updates first, and then the diagnostic software. Once setup and working UPDATES GET TURNED OFF.

I have also on several occasions experienced issues when for example windows decides it wants to update a "generic" driver for a USB to COM adapter but usually installing the driver specifically from the manufacturer has resolved that.

I'm assuming that the PA soft hardware much like the rest of these cables has some sort of USB -> COM assignment via driver, so you could try to go into your device manager and delete you USB controllers and COM ports and then reboot your system.

That might help reassign resources to the hardware which should be getting an IRQ etc automatically from the OS. Devices sometimes prefer some resources over others for whatever reason.

If you have any other computer you can plug the PA Soft hardware into that would help rule out your OS being "confused"

Very helpful. Thanks.

Pretty much confirms my thinking, and with good specifics.

I did not go all the way through to deleting the COM ports, so that will be on the list next time. One of the downsides of using my main laptop for this is that I'm a little more hesitant to debug too far.

I had thought similarly about the windows update freeze on an older dedicated laptop. I've got at least half a dozen old laptops around here from XP and Win7, so it's mainly a matter of the effort required to do the install and hope it works.

"Glad" to hear you've found similar problems with Win Update killing things. I'll say I have also had (due to my inclination for laziness whenever I can do it) Win Update suddenly revive things it previously killed, a year later.

Would it make sense that a WinUpdate to my Win10-64 would kill my PA Soft, but there would not be a flood of complaints on xoutpost about that, since many people would be similarly affected?

So I guess my new thinking will be:
Consider the box is probably not dead after all.
Wait as long as I can before "needing" it again.
Try it again on my main Win10-64. Kill USB and COM ports as a test.
Try on an XP or Win7.
At that point, buy a new box.

[Overboost]

The Windows 10 updates have definitely caused some issues with previously working copies of PA Soft 1.4. I think you can go back in as described above and reload the FTDI drivers and make it work again but my solution is to run all my INPA, NCS Expert, Tool 32 and PA Soft 1.4 software from a Windows XP machine that no longer gets any forced updates from Billy.

[Bdc101]

I found that Win10 was automatically blowing away my USB drivers for using the OBDII adapter with PA soft at regular intervals. I'm not sure why but it happened every time I hadn't used PA soft for a day or two.

I also found that my cheap ebay OBDII adapter stopped working after a few weeks. I would call this "cheap chinese crap." I paid $35 or so for an authentic one shipped from England and it has worked fine ever since.


All in all, PA soft has been such a hassle compared to my Foxwell that I don't know if I will ever use it again unless I need to for some specific reason.

[Purplefade]

Originally Posted by Overboost

The Windows 10 updates have definitely caused some issues with previously working copies of PA Soft 1.4. I think you can go back in as described above and reload the FTDI drivers and make it work again but my solution is to run all my INPA, NCS Expert, Tool 32 and PA Soft 1.4 software from a Windows XP machine that no longer gets any forced updates from Billy.

I can second that, running everything on XP so it doesn’t update any longer and I’ve gone one step further and disabled the network port & wifi, I move anything that I need either on to or off of it via a 256GB USB stick .

Regarding Windows 10, I haven’t found / seen an option to completely stop updates and everything I’ve found on Google, MS or other seems to indicate that they can be delayed, or set to metered connection to slow them - if there is a way to fully stop them, short of disconnecting from any network, I’d love to know that process?


Sent from my iPhone using Xoutpost.com

[wpoll]

I cloned my diag PCs to cheap SSDs (in a USB-SATA dock) - that way if the internal HDD dies or Windows updates screw something, I can simply image it back to the last known working state. Or simply install the SSD.

Quicker/easier than fighting with driver issues. :-)

This was esp. important for my DIS installation - I never want to do that one again!